News

The team behind NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt has launched a free app that takes iPhone and iPad users along on this historic voyage to the planetary frontier.

Now available in the iTunes App Store, “New Horizons: A NASA Voyage to Pluto” brings users the latest news and pictures from the mission, as well as details on the spacecraft and science instruments, and offers access to educational programs and activities. Main features include reports from the New Horizons news center and Twitter feed; stunning images of New Horizons or those taken by the spacecraft’s cameras; videos that tell the New Horizons story; and a “tour” of the New Horizons spacecraft.

The app includes a locator for following New Horizons along its path toward Pluto, and a countdown clock to check exactly how much time remains – down to the second – before New Horizons sails past the dwarf planet and four moons on July 14, 2015. Another tool connects users to the “Ice Hunters” program to find potential New Horizons flyby targets in the Kuiper Belt beyond Pluto.

The New Horizons team is excited to share the adventure of discovery with the larger public that iTunes can reach,” says New Horizons Project Manager Glen Fountain, of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md.

The New Horizons app was produced by programmers at APL, which built and operates the New Horizons spacecraft and manages the mission for NASA. Visit the New Horizons website for more details.